The Governance of Street Vending in Abuja: Policy Implications for Livelihoods Strategies of Informal Urbanites

Abstract

Although urban street trading remains a recurring reality in cities across the globe, particularly in the global south, many governments still rely on restrictive approaches to address the phenomenon. Based on individual interviews with forty street vendors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, this study shows that the continued application of restrictive policies towards these categories of urbanites is insufficient to deal with the occurrence. Rather, addressing the problem requires an appreciation of the resilience of street vending as a permanent and positive feature of urbanity within developing economies that cannot be wished away. In this context, policymakers need to recognisestreet vending as a legitimate source of livelihood in the city under conditions of poor rural development across the country. In doing this, necessary gaps in existing policies will be considered while the administration in the FCT should adopt more sustainable planning and management strategies to deal with the phenomenon.